Return to Mokpo: The Blood Mansion

In an attempt to appease people’s cravings for the dramatic, I christen the name of this location, the Blood Mansion. It appeals to human’s hunger for a good story. The faded crimson exterior of an eerie eyesore. Maybe Niall or my girlfriend can think of a better name. They are super creative people. If they do, I will update this post to reflect it’s official urbex title. In the meantime, here is evidence of our trip to Mokpo on a Sunday in mid-November. Here’s the slightly anonymous crew.

Last time we visited Mokpo we strolled the streets tasked ourselves with finding as many Japanese colonial-era buildings as we could in a few hours. At the end of our day, we discovered this apartment building that has clearly seen better days. In the dusk, we explored a few of the empty apartments, coming across a room filled with lots of Christian devotional keepsakes. Niall and I vowed to return and conduct further research. This time, my girlfriend joined us on the adventure. Adventure Duos are great, but nothing beats an Adventure Trio! A Trio is a perfect size for an exploration. Being discreet and blending in is the goal when exploring a semi-abandoned apartment complex like this. You want to document and leave no traces of your presence. A bloated group of five or more turns a trip into a spectacle. Now, I could call this place by the real name. You will be able to find it easily with a Google search. I prefer to offer the place with anonymity, albeit with an evocative name.

Before we even got in, we came across discarded art and furniture left to rot in the elements like this devotional stitching of Jesus. Based on the evidence inside there were many people of the Christian faith who once called this place home. Our crew even came across a handmade poster simultaneously pleading the public to save their home while inviting people to join the apocalyptic cult Shinchonji.

Thanks to my beautiful girlfriend for the translation.

So at least devotee to the cult lives in the apartment. From what I hear they don’t openly advertise as Shinchonji when they offer Bible study classes. The cult has even put on “World Peace Festivals” where they dupe foreigners into believing they are attending a festival to spread messages of hope and love. In reality, Shinchonji uses the images of foreigner attendees to create the perception that they are an international organization among the Korean populace. I find this poster being the creepiest discovery during our exploration of the Blood Mansion.

The Blood Mansion complex consists of three buildings. It seems the most occupied are the first two. My guess the total occupancy level The last building was the emptiest, the one we freely explored previous time. It was the third building which had the kooky Shinchonji welcome sign. We avoided entering that building as it certainly had occupants. We went to the other subsections of the third building. In my opinion, masks were required as it was very dusty and moldy. As a person who has had two lung collapses, I must take more precaution when going into neglected buildings.

Lots of English language VHS tapes left behind.As well as wedding and family photos.I think that head is a Dragonball Z character.Someone had a helluva runny nose.

Another Dragonball Z head.

The Korean word for deception or cheat is spray painted on the door.An old-school bathroom.

Matching couple masks and Leicas!

In a quick succession of events, a teenager walked into the building we had just finished exploring. It was clear he lived in the one apartment unit still resided in. Moments before, Niall had opened the door to this unit to see it was occupied. I’m not sure if he saw us open his house because immediately after the door closed and the teen walked by we were met by an older resident to our left. He kept asking us why we were there, which is an entirely valid question. I’m sure this was his first instance of meeting foreigner photographers in breathing masks.